Polychromatism: Part III
by J.Fontaine
Summary: One-shots #11 - 15 of Anya/Dimitri, from Fox's 1997 Anastasia.
1. Better Than Chocolate

**11. Lavender**

_Better Than Chocolate_

"Dammit," Anya murmurs under her breath, for the fifth time undoing the errant stitch in the lavender baby blanket she'd been attempting to finish for the last month and a half.

She was seven months into her pregnancy, and her large belly had been making it very difficult to find a comfortable position to sleep in. When she went to her grandmother for some advice, an amused Marie suggested that she take up knitting. If nothing else, it would bore her so much it could serve as a tranquilizer.

She misses a loop. Again.

With a scream of frustration she throws the knitting needle and yarn across the room. Dimitri just barely has enough time to duck when he strides through the door.

"The knitting experiment is going well, I see," he comments as he walks to the bed and sits down on the edge, being very careful to keep the plate he's carrying out of Anya's view.

It was too late. She sniffs, then narrows sapphire eyes at him. "What is that?"

He sighs inwardly. He should've known better, but he figured in her intense concentration she wouldn't pay him or his midnight snack any attention.

"It's nothing. Finish knitting. It looks pretty, by the way."

Anya looks pointedly at the half-unraveled blanket that lay in a heap against the far wall, the small corner of cloth she managed to complete the fruit of weeks of labor. "You don't go through all that to hide 'nothing', Dimitri."

"It's a salad."

She looks unconvinced.

"An apple?"

She shakes her head.

"Poop?"

He sees the corner of her mouth twitch like she wants to laugh, but she remains deadly serious. "No."

"No?"

"Uh-uh." Suddenly, realization dawns and she gasps, appalled. "It's that chocolate lava cake from last night, isn't it?"

Dimitri looks around the room. "No…"

"Yes it is! I thought I ate that already..."

"You ate _yours_. I managed to smuggle mine out of the restaurant before you could scarf it down."

Anya makes herself comfortable in the high-backed chair of their bedroom. "You know the drill, husband. Hand it over. Baby wants chocolate."

"Aww, Anya," Dimitri whines. Her pregnancy cravings had so far consisted of any and everything with a sugar content higher than a potato. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been able to sneak sweets into the house without her getting to them first. She always seemed to know, like she had a sixth sugar sense. "You already had pie earlier today, and cake yesterday, and that really expensive chocolate mousse the day before that when we went out with Vlad and Sophie. Can't I have anything?"

She snorts. "Are you carrying our child? No. _You_ didn't grow another chin, _you_ don't have stretch marks, _you_ can sleep and snore all night if you want, and _you_ will _never_ know how it will feel to have to pass something the size of a football. So if I want some cake – or anything else for that matter – I can have it."

"Anya, please – "

"Give me the cake, Dimitri."

"All this sugar really isn't good for the ba– "

"Just give me the damn cake!"

He sighs. There was no winning. He might as well go down to the store on the corner and buy some ice cream to enjoy in peace.

"Fine."

He hands her the plate and fork, and she greedily snatches them out of his hands. He looks on scornfully as she stuffs her face with moist cake.

"God," she moans, licking the chocolate ganache she missed off the back of the fork, "it's better than sex."

Dimitri glares at her, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well, thank you very much."


	2. Bated Breath

**12. Mahogany**

_Baited Breath_

It could've been the constant rocking motion of the boat that caused the sudden weakness in her knees.

Anya was almost certain it was. Or she could've been just a little giddy from the feel of the smooth, clean cotton of her new blue dress against her skin.

But when Dimitri reached out and gently took her hand, the unexpected bolt of lightning that shimmied up her arm at the first brush of his fingertips suggested something else entirely.

They glided together over the wet planks of the upper deck as they executed the steps of their waltz. Their world was nothing but the blood red sunset at the edge of the sea and the salty spray that moistened their skin. And from the background came the low murmur of Vlad's love song, floating somewhere in the front of Anya's mind unheard.

_It's one-two-three, and suddenly, _

_I see it at a glance_

Dimitri was stammering something about Anya being beautiful in her dress. He was so uncharacteristically nervous. She could feel the slight trembling in their hands, but she couldn't tell if it was her hand that was shaking, or his.

_She's radiant, and confident,_

_And born to take this chance_

The breeze off the icy water ruffled the hair that constantly fell into his face. He was staring at her, hardly blinking. She couldn't look away even if she wanted to. Before this moment, his eyes had been brown, like the color of dead leaves. Now they were a rich mahogany, warm, male, filled with the promise of something so tantalizing she was almost afraid of him.

_I taught her well, I planned it all_

_I just forgot…romance_

She could feel herself warming around the edges, feel the wall she'd built up against her feelings for him begin to crumble in earnest. Her heartbeat had become a slow thump in her chest. She needed to close her eyes. She had to break the spell, or she was a dead woman.

_Vlad, how could you do this,_

_How will we get through this?_

_I never should have let them dance…_

She swallowed hard to keep the battle of her emotions out of her voice.

"I'm feeling a little…dizzy."

When he spoke, his voice was like smoke and honey.

"Kind of light-headed?"

"Yeah."

"Me, too. Probably from spinning. Maybe we should stop." He didn't let go of her hands, only unconsciously caressed her palms with his thumbs.

"We have stopped…" She was so outside of herself, she could hardly breathe. It took a moment to realize that she'd spoken out loud.

"Anya, I…"

Her throat was dry; it was all she could do to whisper, "Yes?"

He was leaning in. Deep down, didn't she know that this would happen? He was a man; she was a woman. He was a scoundrel, however, and she didn't trust him. Not completely. But how could she think of that now, with his mouth so close to hers? It would be so easy to surrender completely when he kissed her. She could close her eyes and melt into his arms and never think of being alone again.

But he didn't.

She didn't realize her eyes were closed until she opened them to see him walking away.


	3. After Midnight

**13. Lemon**

_After Midnight_

"Dimitri."

Anya smiles as he kisses her just below her earlobe. "Hmm?"

"Thank you."

Dimitri's eyes are curious as he props himself up on an elbow and looks down into Anya's usually icy blue eyes that right now were soft and wistful. He loved that look, especially because he knew he put it there. "For what? A half-hour ago you were ready to kill me for leaving the salt on the table."

Anya giggles and puts her forehead on his naked shoulder. His skin was still hot and damp.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. It's just…" Without really thinking about it she rubs her large belly, then grimaces a little when she looks down to see the faint red stretch marks crisscrossing her skin like strands in a spider web. "Sometimes…I feel like I look so disgusting…" She swallows, aware of the heat pooling in her face. "I – I feel like I might repulse you, or something. So I fight with you, because it's easier than having to watch you see me…um…naked."

She sits up and turns away from him, legs half caught in the tangled mess of the sheets of their bed, embarrassed to the core. She'd never laid herself so completely bare to anyone before, not even to her own husband after three years of marriage.

There is a long silence, so long that Anya moves to get out of the bed and run into the bathroom, but Dimitri's warm hands on her shoulders stop her. He nuzzles her neck and kisses her bare back between her shoulder blades.

"Anya," he whispers as he turns her head to face him, "you are about to be the mother of my child. There is nothing on the planet sexier than that." He gently runs his fingers through her auburn hair, so long now it covered her naked chest.

Anya smiles, her bottom lip caught in her teeth, annoyed with herself for wanting to cry. She glances at the lacy lemon yellow nightie that lay crumpled on the floor at the foot of the bed. She'd tried it on for Dimitri after he brought it home as a gift. It didn't stay on longer than a minute.

She kisses him urgently, her heart full and body pounding again in all the right places. Dimitri pulls her back down on the bed without breaking the kiss.

This was way better than fighting any day.


	4. The Lake

**14. Mauve**

_The Lake_

"Anya, come on! It's not even cold!"

Dimitri treads water in the small lake, watching Anya pace the dirt along the waterline. She has her ratty coat wrapped tightly around her skinny body, despite the fact that it was nearly eighty degrees. She wipes at the sweat that had gathered on her brow.

"I…" She pauses, her face uncharacteristically red. "I can't swim!" she shouts finally, looking over at Vlad for help. He merely shrugs his beefy shoulders and wades in, wearing only his underwear.

Dimitri laughs, shocked by her admission. "You never learned?" he yells, voice filled with disbelief and vast amusement.

She glares at him from the bank. "I had better things to do. Like learn to read and write, some lessons you may have missed!"

Dimitri pauses. She looks so uncomfortable.

"If you get in, I'll teach you how to stay afloat," he shouts, beginning to kick to push himself in her direction.

His attention is momentarily captured by Vlad, who is floating on his back and admonishing him not to drown the heir to the Russian throne.

Dimitri chuckles, his feet finally brushing the floor of the clear lake, and turns back to Anya.

And freezes.

She'd finally taken off the coat and was standing there in nothing but her plain bra and panties, staring at the ground, her creamy skin bared to the sun. She tests the temperature of the water with one narrow foot then wades in toward him, pausing to dip her head back and wet her hair so it's off her face.

Dimitri opens his mouth to speak, but nothing comes out but a dry croak.

"Now what?" Anya asks as she stops a few feet in front of him, apparently oblivious to the stricken look on Dimitri's face. "I'm standing on my toes already."

"Uh…" Dimitri glances desperately at Vlad, who chuckles and floats further away.

She stares at him expectantly, eyes wide and rivaling the beauty of the cloudless sky above them.

Dimitri swallows hard and extends his hand to her, careful to keep it underwater so she can't feel his trembling. He starts to pull, but she resists. "Wait – "

"I won't let you drown, Your Grace," Dimitri replies, trying to recapture the humor of the situation that had deserted him at the first glance at her impossibly narrow waist and long, long legs. "It cost us way too much money to get you this far, and you can't pay us back."

Anya rolls her eyes but keeps an iron grip on his hand as he leads her deeper into the lake.

"Okay," he says once they reach the middle and can no longer touch the bottom, "start kicking."

"Don't let me go, okay?"

"I won't." But he keeps a safe distance between their bodies. Just to be safe. She kicks for a while, then Dimitri very carefully disengages his hand from hers.

"Dimitri, look! I'm floating!" She's grinning and kicking and he can't help but return her smile.

Then Vlad yells from across the lake: "Watch out for snakes, child!"

Anya screeches and flings her arms around Dimitri's neck, unthinkingly wrapping her legs around his waist at the same time. And this time, they both freeze.

Neither of them could tell how much time had passed before Anya pulled back and stared directly into Dimitri's eyes. A strong breeze whipped through the tree on the bank, dislodging its flowers. The petals whirled around them like a mauve hurricane before settling down on the sparkling surface of the water.

Dimitri can feel every single curve of Anya's body as she pressed up against him. He blushed after he realized that he'd wrapped both arms tightly around her to keep her from sinking.

The quick thump of her heartbeat against his chest was maddening. The blue of her eyes had darkened; her lids had dropped to half-mast. Her lips were parted and moist from the water of the lake. Dimitri was never more aware that they were naked except for a few scraps of thin fabric between them. And despite how hard he was fighting it, he knew she could feel his body's involuntary reaction.

But she didn't move or look away from him.

"Dimitri," she whispers, her lips not even an inch away from his own, "don't let me go."

He can feel her nails in his naked shoulders. Dimitri pulls her closer, pressing her body even more against his as he slowly kicks. He feels a shudder, but he can't tell if it was Anya's body, or his.

"Trust me," he whispers back. "I won't."


	5. Mommy Dearest

**15. Lilac**

_Mommy Dearest_

"How many times are you going to count his toes?"

Anya can barely smile due to exhaustion, but her heart is full to bursting as she awakes to see her husband hold their tiny son, Andrei. Dimitri looks down at her until the pale lilac sheets of the hospital bed and grins.

"I just wanted to make sure he didn't lose any in the nursery."

"Let me see him," Anya whispers.

Dimitri settles gently on the edge of the bed. Anya grabs a tiny hand and presses a soft kiss to tiny fingers. "He's beautiful, isn't he?"

"Yeah. He has your eyes, you know."

"And your mouth," Anya replies, eyes sparkling.

Dimitri smiles and leans down to press a soft kiss to Anya's lips. Anya feels the familiar electricity shoot down her spine to parts of her that would be off limits for the next six weeks.

She gently pulls away from him, her smile devilish. "You should stop that," she says, glancing down at the sleeping infant in Dimitri's arms. "That's how we got that one."


End file.
